EBOOK Plague: A Very Short Introduction

Throughout history plague has been the cause of many major catastrophes. It was        responsible for the Black Death of 1348 and the Great Plague of London in 1665, and        for devastating epidemics much earlier and much later, in the Mediterranean in the        sixth century, and in China and India between the 1890s and 1920s. Today, it has        become a metaphor for other epidemic disasters which appear to threaten us, but        plague itself has never been eradicated.In this Very Short Introduction, Paul Slack        explores the historical impact of plague over the centuries, looking at the ways in        which it has been interpreted, and the powerful images it has left behind in art and        literature. Examining what plague meant for those who suffered from it, and how        governments began to fight against it, he demonstrates the impact plague has had on        modern notions of public health and how it has shaped our history.